Westward Migration

Finally I worked my way to the Autry Museum and it was well worth it. I have been fascinated with the natural landscape of California every since I arrived here.

This exhibit shows the importance of the contribution of women in the development of the west along with many African Americans.

There was something that I read in the museum's brochure about a female doctor named Justina Ford.
Dr. Justina Laurena Warren Ford was the first African American female doctor in Colorado, and was still the only female African American doctor there when she died in 1952. She demonstrates perseverance and dedication to her dream as many pioneers have and did not let the obvious roadblock deter her. Her home in Denver has been moved from its original location, and is now the home of the Black American West Museum.

I was quite surprised in the number of African American Cowboys there were in this migration west, now realizing that one-third of the cowboys were black. They had established all black townships, and owned a great deal of prime real estate. Information that is not in our history text books. It make me angry that so much of our history is omitted as though it is not American History.
There is also a beautiful exhibit throughout of the American Indian and their contribution to the westward migration of the cowboy.

There are more photos of the exhibits here.

Realizing Memorial Day

Deciding to go out to Santa Monica Beach is always something I want to do, but this being a holiday weekend I wanted to go take in the sun and sights before the holiday crowd came on Sunday and Monday.

I discovered that the older I get the less I like large crowds. Well I was not able to avoid the crowd, but I knew that it would be worst the more we got into this holiday weekend.

After parking in the first parking lot right on the beach, we decided to walk back toward the Santa Monica Pier. It was a nice breeze on the beach and there were people everywhere. As we started to walk along the pier trying to decide where we will eat, we noticed a memorial down below, actually on the beach. It was at that moment when the real meaning and purpose of this holiday hit home for me.

The white crosses were for those lost in the war in Iraq, and the red crosses were for those lost in Afghanistan.

We decided to go down and take a closer look and there were names and pictures as well as an area where you could write what every you wanted in memory of our fallen troops. When I read the names and looked at the faces and read what had already been written there, I started to feel that pull at my heart and became a bit emotional. I found that there were many others there having the same experience.

This was actually the first time that I got it. I was living through this war, that we often try not to think about, because it is actually occurring on foreign soil. At first I was sad that so many lives were lost and so many families forever affected by it, and then I started to feel a sense of pride and gratitude. That is what I left with.

I was also grateful that whoever decided to put the memorial there did so. It reminded those that were on the beach to have fun in the sun,
why they really are able to celebrate this
day with such freedom.



















These are the names and it goes on and on. It makes these people more than just a casualty, it makes them human. Somebody's son, daughter, husband, wife, mother, father, or friend. It made you feel the sacrifice of so many people.









Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day, when many women would decorate the grave sites of fallen soldiers. After the Civil War, there were said to be celebrations all over the country to mark the end of the war and to memorialize those that died.

A history professor from Yale University believes that the first observance of memorial day was in Charleston, South Carolina, where the was a prison camp for captured Union soldiers as well as a mass grave. After the hostilities of the Civil War, in 1865, formerly enslaved people exhumed the bodies from the mass graves and reinterred them into individual graves. They then put a fence around the grounds and called it a union graveyard.This was all finished in about ten days.

It was reported in the Charleston newspaper on May 1, 1865, that a crowd of approximately ten thousand people, predominantly black, gathered at this graveyard where there were sermons, singing, and picnics.

Many years later it was changed to Memorial Day and observed by all 50 states.

Annenberg Space for Photographers

Today as I paced the floor trying to figure out what I was going to do with this beautiful holiday weekend, I searched the internet for goings on in Los Angeles. Well of course there are always lots of things going on, but I was looking for some kind of festival, a great photo opportunity. I did not come across any festivals, but I was so anxious to get out of the house before all of the holiday traffic and mishaps filled the city.

I decided to go to the Annenberg Space for Photography, a place that I intended to visit for almost two years. I first heard about this place when I became a member of this local photography club, Photographers and Digital Artist of Los Angeles, but never found the time to go. There has been numerous lectures and exhibits that I intended to see, but never made it.

Today I decided that it was time. After mapping my way with Google Maps, I decided that I would catch the bus to avoid parking fees as well as traffic on a Friday after noon before Memorial Day weekend, and I headed out.

Annenberg is located on Avenue of the Stars off of Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood. The main exhibit was a collaboration with National Geographic on the state of fresh water in our world, and it was beautifully done; as is anything with National Geographic. The space is smaller than I expected, however not too small, and beautifully designed.

Being a photographer myself, it was well worth the visit and a place I hope to frequent.

The above photo was taken from http://www.annenbergspaceforphotography.org/

Sam Elliot- Star Sighting

While hanging out in Malibu, I decided to stop to the How's Market off Trancas Canyon Road to get me bottle of pomegranate juice. This is small How's market and quite conjusted, but also quite adequate. As I am walking down the left side of the store where they keep cold bottled drinks in an open cooler, my friend is walking behind me. As I barrel around this corner I almost bumped into the buggy of a gentleman that was headed my way, I said, "I am sorry excuse me" as pulled his cart more to the right side to keep from bumping me with it. He then said something that sounded like' no problem honey", as I had already passed by, and I immediately turned around, and pointed to him, and my girlfriend said yes that was him. I recognized the voice, more than the face because I didn't look him directly in the face. But it was Sam Elliot.



So I went on and got my pomegranate juice but as I was going back to the register he was headed my way again, so I said hello again, and as we were passing told him that I loved his movies, and he said thanks and blew me a kiss, and a great big smile.

Park at the end of Malibu Canyon Road-What a View

I was out to a park on near Peppidine University in Malibu and there was this long path that leads down to the water. If you look closely at this picture you can see it going toward the water. My friend told me that I should walk on down there, but I was hesitant. I know where there is water and brush there are usually rattlesnakes or water moccasins. I told her that if the gentleman with the dog went down that trail I would go along or behind them, because I trust the instincts of a dog.


This little lady's name is Sadie.

I started talking to the dogs owner telling him what we were talking about and of course he agreed about the instincts of a dog. His name was Jim and he told me that a couple of weeks ago there was rather large rattlesnake there off to the side of the walkway, and before approaching Sadie started to walk to the opposite side as though she sensed something directly in front of them in their path.

As they got closer he saw the rattlesnake and the dog was walking further and further away.


Jim went on telling me more stories about Sadie, how she was raised by the cats that he and his wife have at home, so often times, she acts like a cat. She gets excited and will chase something as small as a leaf blowing in the wind. She was picking up on the light caused by the sun shining on my camera lens. It appeared as though she wanted to chase that as well.

He told me how Sadie was a really friendly dog but sometimes when he notices that she does not like a person that he may come in contact with, he will just speak and keep going. He has learned to trust her instincts, because often time we ignore our own.

At this point Sadie was just enjoying the cool breeze and the warmth of the sun.

Malibu Canyon Road

One of the beautiful things about living in California is the incredibly beautiful landscape. It is full of hills, rock formations, valleys and the Pacific Ocean. I enjoying riding on the roads between the mountains and rock always wondering what is up there. Well we know there are quite a few mountain lions and bears in those mountains, that often times wonder into the backyards of those that build their houses in this natural landscape. We are always invading the habitat of wild animals and are afraid when they wonder into our yards. Oh well, we are in their yards.


These are pictures of what it looks like driving on Malibu Canyon Road headed toward the Pacific Ocean. This road ends on Pacific Coast Highway, which runs from Santa Monica to San Francisco. I hear that this ride is long but spectacular. I did take it to Santa Barbara, and then took highway 58 to Solvang, and that highway will take your breath away.



The closer we got to the coast the more green it was. It is not usually so green but we had a great deal of rain this year. I would imagine there will be a great deal of breeding in those hills as well.

Dinghy Sailing at Marina del Rey

Yesterday a friend of mine and I decided to ride out to the beach. We first walked along Venice Beach, which is always entertaining and sometimes even a bit scary. We decided to go watch the sail boats and fisherman at Marina del Rey. There are always lots to see out there as well. The last time I was there I came upon a photo shoot which was not going so well. Mostly because it was quite windy as it was yesterday, and those that were helping the photographer did not seem prepared for the amount of wind and sand that they encountered. The model didn't seem that excited about it either. So I just sat back and watched them fumbled through it all as the egotistical photographer became quite annoyed.

However, on this day there were various sailboats in the harbor, then I noticed a small sailboat had capsized.


We were wondering how they were going to be able to get the boat right-side up and continue on, but they did. As we were watching all of this we noticed that there were about four other sail boats of the same small size in the harbor, but this was different from any sailing that I had ever seen. It appeared as though the passengers in the boat often shifted themselves from one side of the vessel to the other. They used their bodies in the turning of the boat and immediately shifted to the other side of the boat after the turn and leaned backwards toward the water over the side.

We then realized that if this was not done with a certain precision the boat would become unsteady and turn over. I was thinking that this was way too much work for any kind of enjoyment, but often times this is so with various sports.

Dinghy Sailing is the name of this sport and it was at times painful to watch. One young couple spent more time in the water than on the boat itself. At one point the coast guard came to help them by pulling the boat to aid in flipping it back to the right side, so this couple could continue on.



Well that they did. It was intriguing to watch but nothing that I would want to do. It looked quite difficult













Changing sides and leaning to keep the boat afloat gives one the impression of the needed dedication and skill.





I had never seen this done before, even though I have seen many sailboats in the past. I have met sailors that sailed in the Atlantic Ocean in Savannah, Ga. as well as in the Gulf while I lived in Tampa, Fl. but I had never seen dinghy sailing.